Beijing: Economist Wang Yuanhong said that despite having a low per capita GDP with the lingering urban-rural gap, weak industrial competitiveness and technological innovation China remains the world’s largest developing country. In Indian context on can say it has a strengthening enemy. Yuanhong, an economist at the State Information Centre, was talking to Chinese news agency Xinhua on Monday. “We should look at both economic aggregate and per capita figures when measuring the real development level of a country,” Wang said.

In 2016, China’s per capita GDP was only 80 per cent of the world average and was ranked the 68th globally. “Chinese per capita consumer spending was only $2,506 in 2016, less than half of the world average and only 7 per cent of the US.”

According to The Engel’s coefficient, which measures food expenditures, China’s spending stood at 29.3 per cent, much higher than developed economies. “It means the Chinese people still have to spend big on basic needs, and their expenditure on culture, healthcare, entertainment and tourism are much less than people in developed countries,” Wang said.

He said China was still “a follower in technological innovation”, with businesses inadequate in research and development. “Eighty per cent of core technology, most of the high-end equipment, and core components are reliant on imports.”

Despite emerging new technology, products and business models, China is yet to complete building an innovation-driven growth pattern, Wang said.